La Llorona / The Weeping Woman (English and Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Joe Hayes (Author), Vicki Trego Hill (Illustrator), Mona Pennypacker (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

La Llorona (yoh-RROH-nah), now available for the first time in a full-color paperback, is the ghost story to end all ghost stories and truly the most popular cuento of Hispanic America. This story of the weeping woman appears at first to be only a frightening tale filled with mysterious events which cause children to sit wide-eyed. Yet it’s the simple, universal wisdom at the core of the story that finally works its magic into their hearts.

Joe Hayes is best known for his bilingual tellings of stories from the American Southwest. La Llorona is one of his favorite stories.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish

About the Author

Joe Hayes is one of America's premier storytellers. He grew up in a small town in southern Arizona where he learned Spanish from his classmates. As he got older, Joe began gathering old stories from the Southwest. Joe has earned a distinctive role as a bilingual storyteller. Vicki Trego Hill lives in El Paso, Texas, where she makes a living as a graphic design artist and illustrator. Mona Pennypacker is an artist and illustrator. This is her first book collaborating with her mother Vicki Trego Hill.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press; Bilingual edition (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English, Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0938317393
• ISBN-13: 978-0938317395
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > Mexico
  • #35 in Books > Libros en español > Infantil y juvenil > Literatura > Cuentos de Hadas, Cuentos Tradicionales y Mitos
  • #53 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Europe > General

More About the Author

Joe Hayes is one of America's premier storytellers--a nationally recognized teller of tales from the Hispanic, Native American and Anglo cultures. His bilingual Spanish-English tellings have earned him a distinctive place among America's storytellers. His books, CDs and tapes of Southwestern stories are popular nationwide. Born in Pennsylvania, Joe Hayes moved as a child to a small town in southern Arizona, some fifty miles from the Mexican border. From Mexican-American friends and schoolmates he began to acquire a knowledge of Spanish and an appreciation for Hispanic culture. As an adult, his experience with Spanish helped him find work doing mineral exploration in Mexico and Spain. When Joe moved to New Mexico in 1976, he first taught high school English, but his interest in the rich folklore of the region was already growing. He enjoyed sharing stories with his own children so much that he decided to shape a career for himself as a storyteller. Joe gathered traditional stories of the Southwest, added a little of his own spice and hit the road, traveling all over to share his stories. He has captured the imagination of children in schools all over the United States. In 2005, Joe received the Talking Leaves Literary Award from the National Storytelling Network, an award given to members of the storytelling community who have made considerable and influential contributions to the literature of storytelling. Joe has taught storytelling to teachers at the University of New Mexico and been a guest lecturer at many colleges and universities, delivering the commencement address for the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at U.C.L.A. He was designated a New Mexico Eminent Scholar by the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education, and in 1995 he received the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence. Joe began sharing his stories in print in 1982. His books have received many awards including the Arizona Young Readers Award, two Land of Enchantment Children's Book Awards, and an Aesop Accolade Award. Joe's books have also been on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List three times, and Ghost Fever--selected by Texas school children--won the Texas Bluebonnet Award for 2006-2007, the first bilingual book to achieve that distinction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great for young chiildren, February 22, 2008

By 

Proud Mama (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: La Llorona / The Weeping Woman (English and Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

This book is a great version for younger children who you don't want to scare too much with this story.

5.0 out of 5 stars A bogey woman?, April 19, 2009

By 

Hispanophile "Spanish Lover" (orlando, fl United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: La Llorona / The Weeping Woman (English and Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

The weeping woman is traditional Latin American tale to scare children. This rendition is great. It open up doors to conversing with your children or your students about the bigger issues in this book. Such topics, as obsession, narcissism, arrogance, vengeance, control and domination call be discussed with this book. The book is bilingual which is a plus, but the Spanish is pretty simple for native speakers. Non-native beginner and intermediate students will find it a little challenging. It is story that never gets old. It also fun to tell, because many believe it to be true from the time of "la malinche". She helped Cortez conquer hers and other native peoples of the new world.

It is a little too violent for really young children, but it is a scary story so use your discretion in telling this tale to children under 7.

5.0 out of 5 stars Scary multi-cultural story that children will love, January 7, 2009

By 

Natalya Martinez (Seoul, S. Korea) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: La Llorona / The Weeping Woman (English and Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

I am an Elementary School Spanish teacher and I am always looking for books to teach the children about Spanish or Latin American culture. La Llorona always brought fear to Latino children if they weren't minding their parents and I thought it would be interesting to share this legend with my students. They loved hearing of other culture's versions of the "boogeyman." This version of the story has great illustrations and told remarkably well. It is not too scary for most children but enough to have the kids relating to the legend.